When Matthieu Blazy chose Biarritz as the setting for his first Chanel Cruise collection, he was not simply picking a picturesque backdrop. This seaside town on the Basque coast is where Gabrielle Chanel opened her couture house in 1915, transforming a millinery business into something far more ambitious. Over a century later, Blazy returned to that same stretch of Atlantic coastline, building a mirrored salon that jutted out over the ocean like a promontory, the waves quite literally framing the clothes.
The opening look said everything about Blazy's approach: a little black dress, crissed with topstitching, a direct reference to the style Vogue once dubbed 'Chanel's Ford' in 1926. It was a declaration of intent. Rather than reinventing the wheel, Blazy went back to the beginning, pulling Chanel iconographies from over a century ago and presenting them as if they had always been this fresh. A skirt based on a lost 1920s design curled with the double-C logo at each hip before breaking into pleats. Jackets and dresses featured the interlocking C motif not as a surface detail but as an architectural element of the garment itself, traced back to original Chanel designs from 1929. As Blazy put it backstage: 'We call them blasts from the past. Things that are so, so good, you don't need to do anything.'
The collection had a distinct sense of vacation, of clothes dashed off fast and easy, even though they are nothing of the sort. Dresses composed of layers of flowing carre silk, knotted and dripping into handkerchief hems. Tufted textiles resembling beach towels. Sun-bleached Basque striped canvases. Knit caps and tricot tunics that recalled Hoyningen-Huene's bathers from another era. A lace dress that wriggled like coral over the body. Trench coats and evening dresses in newspaper prints that read like seaside souvenirs. The materials, silk foulard, raffia, cotton canvas, fish-scale paillettes, flocked textures and beaded knits, were all chosen to reflect the sensory qualities of the Basque coast.
Accessories made their own statement. Oversized tote bags, waterproof flap designs, large striped beach paniers and a pala carrier expanded the house's bag vocabulary. Footwear shifted between structured heels inspired by Art Deco and minimal designs. Jewellery referenced both the architectural language of Biarritz and its coastal life, with shell earrings and pearl pieces throughout.
The front row, Nicole Kidman, Michaela Coel, A$AP Rocky and Tilda Swinton among them, told its own story about the cultural weight Blazy now commands. Since taking the helm in September, only the third creative director since Chanel founded the maison in 1910, he has fuelled a kind of social media frenzy that has sparked wait lists and queues outside Chanel stores from Paris to London and New York. This cruise collection, with its joy, optimism and inclusive casting, will only deepen that momentum. Biarritz offered a setting free from the strict etiquette of Parisian fashion. Blazy understood that freedom, and built a collection worthy of it.
